From the Collect (special prayer) for this week

'God, you have broken the tyranny of sin and have sent the Spirit of your Son into our hearts whereby we call you Father: give us grace to dedicate our freedom to your service, that we and all creation may be brought to the glorious liberty of the children of God.'

Reflection:

There are different sorts of Freedom: freedom from (sin, persecution, anxiety, etc); freedom to (eg worship, marry whom we please, vote); and freedom to be (to be our best self, the person God designed us to be).

For the religious leaders of Jesus’s day ‘religion’ was all about obeying the Jewish Law, with all its man made additions, to the letter. By contrast, Jesus’s teaching is both simple and all-encompassing: Love God with your whole being, and reflect this love in you loving actions to your fellow human beings. Genuine, unselfish love is the way to find perfect freedom.

These are God’s guidelines, founded not on harsh restrictions but on love.

Revd Rosemary